At Our Bodies Our Blog: Birth-Related Events, American Women’s (Lack of) Knowledge of Heart Disease, and More on Those Georgia Billboards

At Our Bodies Our Blog, I have a post on results of a survey assessing knowledge about heart disease and prevention among American women. I was a little surprised that just over half of the sample correctly identified heart disease as the leading cause of death for women, more surprised that almost 1 in 5 respondents still thought hormone therapy was an effective preventive measure, and shocked that only 53% of women said they’d call 911 if they experienced symptoms of a heart attack.

I also posted this week on two opportunities for birth-related participation: an online discussion with the author of “Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History and the Wonder of Childbirth” and a call for submissions of c-section-related art.

Christine posted a news release from SisterSong [see their PDF] opposing House Bill 1155 in Georgia – the Sex and Race Selection Bill, which “reflects the false assumption that abortion providers throughout the state ‘solicit’ women of color.” SisterSong had a press conference on Tuesday to oppose the bill. The release also has something to say about the billboard campaign we discussed earlier in the week:

This bill comes on the heels of a controversial billboard campaign that targets Black women in Georgia. The blatantly sexist and racist billboards declare Black children as an endangered species and prey on the conscience of Black women. The mere association between the born and unborn with endangered animals provides a disempowering and dehumanizing message to the Black community, which is completely unacceptable.

I don’t think they’re an endangered species…of course I didn’t realize black children were a different species from other children. Amazing what you can learn from a billboard (yes, that was sarcasm).

Honestly, I think there are more mixed race babies now, even among black women, so maybe that skews the stats some. I do notice that people tend to use black people anytime they want to make some kind of point. First they say black women have babies to get on welfare, now they’re saying they have too many abortions. Well, which is it? You can’t have it both ways. They either are having the babies, or they aren’t.